Did Sly Stone hire a hit man to kill Larry Graham?

[Zombeef]

I was reading the wikipedia article on Sly and the Family Stone and read the reason Graham quit was Sly hired a hit man to take him out. I couldn't find anything else on the incident. I would have thought there would have been more information on it if it was true. Just wondering if anyone knows anything about it. Here is the link to the article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sly_&_the_Family_Stone

Thanks.

Zombeef

[JimmyM]

Nonsense.

[SUNNyday r.]

Wikipedia is the last great holdout of truth. Whatever version of the truth that suits you that is.

[Rune Bivrin]

It might be a good idea to read all the words:

"A post-concert brawl broke out between Graham's entourage and Sly's entourage; Bubba Banks and Eddie Chin, having heard that Larry had hired a hit man to kill Sly, assaulted Graham's associates.[41]"

Not saying that there's any truth in any of this anyway, but don't blame WikiPedia for spreading garbage if you cant' even read properly

[Baryonyx]

There was just too much funk in that band for you to even read the Wiki article right!

[phxlbrmpf]

Why do you do what you do
I do what I want to do
Who said you could do what you do
I told you who told me to
I do what I want to do
I do what I want to do

Funky crime funky crime
Dont you know funks colors blind
Well Ive committed a funky crime
Against a state of mind

Hey you mister interview
I dont have to answer you
This is what I grew into
Dont judge me and my soul stew
Cause funk is my attitude
Funk is my attitude

Funky crime funky crime
Dont you know funks colors blind
Well Ive committed a funky crime
Against a state of mind

Barriers of race
In the media take place
Tellinyou there is no room
For what you do, dont budge
Theres no groove to your gloom
Who made you the judge
Always room for funky tunes
And yes I funk it up

Funky boy
Meets a funky girl
Make it funky, baby
Cause the funk is crazy

Why do you do what you do
I do what I want to do
Who said you could do what you do
I told you who told me to
I do what I want to do
I do what I want to do

Funky crime funky crime
Dont you know funks colors blind
Well Ive committed a funky crime
Against a state of mind

Funky crime
Funky crime
Funky funky crime
The crime is funky

[Drucocu]

funkee!!

[markjazzbassist]

FOnky for sure!!

[DocBop]

Sly had a lot of demons running around in his head back then so who knows if, what, or why he said anything. I just stick to listening to all the great music that came out of Sly and the band.

[Mr. Gone]

Not to defend Wikipedia, but here's an excerpt from a Vanity Fair (which I'm sure is more accurate than Wikipedia) article on Sly:

"Larry Graham bolted from the band in the tumultuous period after Riot's release, having grown estranged from Stone. If the witnesses in Selvin's oral history are to be believed, each man had developed an entourage of gun-wielding flunkies, and Graham feared for his life. Graham, now a devout and unrelentingly upbeat Jehovah's Witness, is reluctant to get into the details, except to say, "Maybe things were exaggerated in the past. During those periods of time, there were a number of elements I couldn't control. I wasn't the leader. Whereas Sly was the leader: he chose to have certain people around him. Sly and I were, and still are, a family. At some point, a member of a family needs to leave home."

Here's a link to the whole article:
http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/featu...?currentPage=1

[20db pad]

I doubt if it's totally true, but if it was it would certainly reaffirm that cocaine is a hell of a drug.

[skaliwag66]

Originally Posted by DocBop

Sly had a lot of demons running around in his head back then so who knows if, what, or why he said anything. I just stick to listening to all the great music that came out of Sly and the band.

replace demons with chemicals.

[markjazzbassist]

Originally Posted by 20db pad

I doubt if it's totally true, but if it was it would certainly reaffirm that cocaine is a hell of a drug.

+1

quote rick james

[Woodchuck]

The people Sly had around him were unstable. Add guns to the mix, and you've got a problem. When Graham turned deeply religious, Sly wasn't feeling that. He felt that Larry f'ed up the mood, and Larry was devoutly into it, don't belive me? Listen to GCS' "Mirror" album. Anyway, not only did Sly turn on him, but most of the band did too. In fact, the only people that supported him was Greg Errico (drummer supreme) and Cynthia (trumpet). There were times, whether high or not, that Sly made off hand comments towards Graham. Larry felt that some of Sly's gun toting junkies would take him to heart one day. He didn't "hire hitmen", but he had idiots with guns to do his bidding. They'd "done things" for him before. Larry, understandably so, feared for his safety. In the end, when Larry left, Sly viewed him as a traitor who'd left him in a time of need. Here's the most important part: Larry felt that he should have gotten writing credit for some of the big hits. Notably for "Thank You..." Sly disagreed. This disagreement led to alot of problems. (Sounds familiar? Zender/Jay Kay?) Please don't ask where I got this story, that's not important, but those are the facts, as I know them.

[Jared Lash]

One of my best friends growing up is the nephew of Cynthia Robinson, Sly's trumpet player and the mother of one of his children. She told us some crazy stories, but I don't remember hearing about that allegation. Next time I talk to him I'll have him ask her about it, but of course, she sided with Sly long after most of the band left him so her account will likely be biased.

[Woodchuck]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

One of my best friends growing up is the nephew of Cynthia Robinson, Sly's trumpet player and the mother of one of his children. She told us some crazy stories, but I don't remember hearing about that allegation. Next time I talk to him I'll have him ask her about it, but of course, she sided with Sly long after most of the band left him so her account will likely be biased.

True, but it was a money thing. She ended up playing with Larry later on. Trust me, she supported him behind Sly's back.

[VanzKantDanz]

Well whatever happened let's not forget that Graham was a dynomite bass player and that's really enough said.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by VanzKantDanz

Well whatever happened let's not forget that Graham was a dynomite bass player and that's really enough said.

Was? He still is!

[SUNNyday r.]

Originally Posted by Rune Bivrin

It might be a good idea to read all the words:

"A post-concert brawl broke out between Graham's entourage and Sly's entourage; Bubba Banks and Eddie Chin, having heard that Larry had hired a hit man to kill Sly, assaulted Graham's associates.[41]"

Not saying that there's any truth in any of this anyway, but don't blame WikiPedia for spreading garbage if you cant' even read properly

If your saying that there might not be any truth in it then what am I supposed to garner from it by reading it "correctly"?

[xlows]

Because the thread is saying that Sly hired a hit man on Larry, when the article says that it was the other way around, and that it was really just something that one of Sly's guys had heard and used to start a brawl.